Well, Charlie had his cruciate op yesterday. You might remember that his op was cancelled last time because he "fainted" when they were taking blood from his neck. So the op was put off until the reason why he fainted was investigated. On Tuesday I took him into Cambridge vet school for a whole range of tests. The good news first (so you can skip the next para if you don't do detail!) - he is fine and healthy and nothing wrong with him. To investigate the "fainting" event they took a long a detailed history, and looked at the records from the time of the event. When Charlie fainted, he was surrounded by vets, and vet nurses, who constantly monitored his blood pressure and heart rate and noted down all of his symptoms and the details of his recovery. So I suppose that's quite a lot of information to go on. They ruled out stress, epilepsy, and heart disease (he had 2 ECGs). They went on to do a range of blood tests and ruled out all sorts of other conditions I never even knew existed and ended up concluding he was a normal healthy dog but with a "high vagal tone" that means he is more likely to faint than some other dogs. Like some people faint and others don't. Anyway, nothing wrong with him so the op went ahead. The op was successful, there were no complications, and his post op x-rays are great. He hasn't damaged his cartilage and had a 50% ruptured ligament. So this time he was operated on earlier than last time, and so in theory the outcome should be even better. But since his right leg is pretty much perfect it's hard to see how I can hope for better - as good will do fine. He is not home yet. They weren't quite happy with his reaction to the drugs they gave him (which they say is also a feature of this "high vagal tone") so they wanted to keep him another day to adjust the drugs and the dose. I hope to pick him up tomorrow.
Really pleased that all went well with the operation and that Charlie is fine. I expect you can't wait to get him home now. Fingers crossed that his recovery goes smoothly and speedily.
I have been waiting to hear about Charlie's op. Pleased to read it is over and hope for a good convalescence and back to normal life as quickly as is possible.
I don't understand this "high vagal tone" stuff - I'm still reading about it. It is very interesting though, that there is a relationship between this high vagal tone and the regulation of excitement, emotion and arousal. I'm beginning to wonder if Charlie's hyper excitable state might not be due completely to my total incompetence as a trainer...but that's probably just very wishful thinking..... Or, more like, just means he is an excitable dog - which I knew anyway.
Good news about the op- all the best for a happy recovery, Charlie Ahh, Cambridge Vet School....back in another life, about 20 years ago, I spent some very interesting times on secondment from Addenbrookes doing imaging and radiotherapy stuff on horses there....!
Speedy recovery to Charlie! glad to hear all went well, Julie! We've been thinking of you "over here" waiting for an update! Tail wags and gentle biteyface from Bella!
Thanks all! I've spent the evening constructing salmon mousse, sea biscuit and sea wrap kongs... How can salmon mousse kongs not help, eh? Bound to make the world of difference.... fish mousse by julieandcharlie julieandcharlie, on Flickr
Glad to hear the op went well . Harley is very jealous of Charlie's kongs I suffer from fainting / low blood pressure and take longer then normal yo come round from anaesthetic etc so know how Charlie feels. Hope he comes home tomorrow x
So glad to hear the op went well and that Charlie can be on the road to recovery (thank goodness there aren't any more cruciate ligaments to worry about ). Myles and I are jealous of the sea wraps and salmon mousse Kongs. I don't believe we have that here in the US.
That's a relief, so very happy Charlie's operation went well and now for a speedy recovery Hope you are OK Julie during another stressful time. xxx
I'm ok, nervous about the next 8 weeks of course and making sure Charlie stays quiet (the rehabilitation is 24 weeks in total, but the first 8 are critical while the bone heals). The necessary restrictions are so very, very strict - he'll be on a lead or in a crate at all times. Which is not going to be fun but hopefully we'll just get through it.
